In 1956, a young doctor called Dr Michael Strode, who was working at Chailey Heritage
School near Lewes, Sussex, took four children with disabilities on a pilrimage holiday
to Lourdes. His ethos was simple: the children would stay in one of the many hotels
in the town and not the hospital where up until now, anyone who had a disability
and wished to visit Lourdes had to stay; the children would be part of a small family
style group where they could spend their holiday among caring friends; the cost of
the children's fares would be met by fundraising so that no child would be turned
away for financial reasons.

When Doctor Michael returned home from that first trip
to Lourdes, he realised that there must be many more children with disabilities who
would benefit from a holiday to Lourdes and so HCPT was born. Now, over fifty years
later, HCPT takes 2000 children on its annual holiday, from all over the United Kingdom
and Ireland as well as other countries including America, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia
and the West Indies. They are accompanied by 3000 volunteer helpers, travel on several
chartered flights that leave the UK for Tarbes over Easter weekend and stay in one
of over sixty Lourdes hotels that opens their doors to HCPT.

The trip may be larger
than ever, and the costs go up every year, but some things have remained unchanged
for over fifty years. Just like the groups who travelled in the early days of HCPT,
groups today spend time visiting the Grotto of Lourdes, learning about the story
of Bernadette, going to church and taking part in the torchlight procession. There
is also plenty of time for drinks in pavement cafes, after dinner singsongs, day
trips into the Pyrenees, picnics, donkey rides and making new friends. In 2006, 50th
anniversary celebrations included a huge fireworks display and launching 5000 golden
balloons, one for each member of HCPT in Lourdes at Easter.

All in all a holiday to
Lourdes with HCPT is a very special week, for both children and helpers alike.

The HCPT began with help from the parish of St Paul’s in Haywards Heath. The first chaplain was from Burgess Hill and St Joseph’s school helped with fundraising. Chailey Heritage where Doc worked is a few miles up the road. Group 71 are proud to be based back in Mid Sussex. A lot of our supporters have a long relationship with the Trust, and also the Leyden House Trust, Doc Strode’s other charity.